Typhoon Rita (1953)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

August 23, 1953 to September 3, 1953

Peak strength

Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)

Lowest pressure

940 mb (27.76 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

39.2

Identifier

WP121953

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

• Typhoon IrmaWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 3100 kt · 980 mb
• Typhoon JudyWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 4120 kt · 940 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Storm40 kt · 992 mb
• Super Typhoon KitWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 5150 kt · 910 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Typhoon LolaWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 180 kt · 970 mb
• Typhoon MamieWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 3100 kt · 980 mb
• Super Typhoon NinaWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 5160 kt · 885 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Storm45 kt
• Typhoon OpheliaWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 3100 kt · 960 mb
• Typhoon PhyllisWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 175 kt · 975 mb
• Tropical Depression NinaWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Storm55 kt · 995 mb
• Typhoon SusanWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 3110 kt · 970 mb
• Super Typhoon TessWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 5150 kt · 900 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Storm40 kt · 998 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression999 mb
• Typhoon ViolaWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 3100 kt · 967 mb
• Typhoon WinnieWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 165 kt · 990 mb
• Typhoon AliceWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 3100 kt · 915 mb
• Super Typhoon BettyWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 4130 kt · 966 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Typhoon CoraWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 4120 kt · 960 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Storm40 kt · 998 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical stormWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Storm40 kt · 1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1953Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon DorisWestern Pacific · 1953Cat 5150 kt · 935 mb

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.